Fifteenth ranked Westmont Volleyball used a balanced offensive attack to hand host La Sierra (15-9) a three-set loss (25-23, 25-15, 25-20) on Tuesday evening.
Five different Warriors recorded from six to nine kills each as the Warriors improved to 19-5 on the season.
“We started a little slow in the first set and La Sierra came out hammering their serves and their offense,” reported head coach Patti Cook. “They were playing all out. I would have been surprised if they could have maintained that, but if they had, they would have given us a run for our money. As it was, they started to cool down a little bit and we were able to take control.”
Down 17-12, Westmont reeled off a 9-3 run to go up 21-20 in the first set.
“We took care of our side of the net and started picking up on their tendencies,” explained Cook. “They had a couple of live arms that were hard to read initially. We stayed patient and started making adjustments according to each individual attacker.”
Tessa Martin led the Warriors with nine kills but it was her defensive play that impressed Cook.
“Tessa was very steady tonight, passing from the back row,” said Cook. “We were able to run our middles off of transition. (Setter) Candice (Adema) was running a nice offense.”
Adema tallied 34 assists in the three-set match.
“I was really proud of our middles,” emphasized Cook. “Ciara (Turner) and Alexandria (Wilson) did a great job and had a lot of success in the middle. We knew that would be a strong point for us. La Sierra had a strong block on the pins, but didn’t run their middle much at all, which usually means a team is susceptible to middle attacks.”
Outside hitter Madison Serrano totaled eight kills, right side hitter Nichole Miller added seven and Turner and Wilson contributed six kills each.
Next up for the Warriors is an exhibition match against the Westmont alumni on Saturday at three o’clock.
